Page 24 of The Bad Brother

“Yes.” Like she’s reading my mind, River swipes the cash out of my hand with a grin. “Let’s go downstairs and get the lease signed before Jen comes back.”

CROSSING THE BRIDGE TO LOOK FOR MYbrother was a reckless thing to do. Trespassing at my parents and confronting my mother was reckless and stupid.

With any luck, she kept drinking after I left and with the help of hermedication, passed out. If she did, there’s a very good chance that when she wakes up, she’ll forget that I was even there.

As much as I’d like to lean on that hope, the more likely scenario is that she called my father as soon as I left and told him that I showed up, unannounced and threatened her and her precious baby boy.

You should have seen him, Nathaniel. He was yelling and screaming—threatened to kill me and our son. He was obviously on drugs.

The irony is almost laughable.

As laughable as it is, I watch my rearview the entire wayhome, sure that my mother followed through with her threat to call Colt. No matter what I said to her or what Cade seems to think, I have serious doubts that Colt’s family loyalty extends beyond the tight Montgomery circle. He doesn’t bust up what’s going on in my basement because Cade not only works for me, he’s a regular in the ring. If he busts me, he’ll have to bust his twin brother. Since Cade is on parole, that would mean a trip back to prison. No matter how straight his arrow is, Colt isn’t willing to be the reason his nephew loses a father and his mother loses a son.

Pulling into the dirt lot in front of the mill, I breathe a sigh of relief. The fact that I made it all the way through Clearwater and across the bridge means that while she more than likely called my father and told him I’d been there and demanded he call the Sheriff and have me arrested, my father opted to do what he does best.

Nothing.

Noting that Cade and River are both here, I flick a look at my rearview to assess the third car in my otherwise deserted parking lot. A shiny red compact I’ve never seen before. Probably someone from the county, making sure we’re not serving on a Sunday or a liquor rep looking to boost their sales for the month. Killing the engine, I palm my keys and climb out of the car, slamming its door behind me on a sigh because right now, I’m not in the mood to deal with either. All I want to do is go upstairs, eat leftover pizza, watch the Rangers game, and forget this day even happened. Scratch that—I want to forget about this whole fucking week.

Stalking across the parking lot, I shove my keys into thefront pocket of my jeans, prepared to kick whoever’s in my bar who isn’t Cade and River, out on their ass, I stop just inside the open front door, giving my eyesight time to adjust to the sudden light change. I can’t see shit but I can smell fried food, and I can hear Metallica—and women laughing. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say weareserving on a Sunday. Before I can ask what the hell is going on, the laughter abruptly cuts off, just as the spots dancing in front of my eyes start to fade.

Cade is behind the bar, loading a case of longnecks into the cooler while Gunner plows his way through a basket of chicken wings. Almost directly in front of me, River and another woman—probably the driver of my mystery car out front—stare at me from their perch at the bar.

“There you are!” River exclaims before a brief, hushed exchange with the woman sitting next to her. Looking at me again, River smiles while the woman—a cute brunette with whiskey brown eyes and a nervous smile—watches me make my way toward them. “We’ve been waitingforever.”

It's four-thirty in the afternoon. River promised me she’d go to a meeting today. Stopping in front of her and her guest, I shake my head. “Since you had somewhere to be at three o’clock, I really hope that’s not true.”

“I went to the early meeting instead.” Sighing, River rolls her eyes. “You can even call Sandy to check.”

Sandy is the grade school’s librarian. She runs the Sunday NA meeting at the rec center. “I don’t need to call anyone, Riv. If you say you went, then you went,” I tell her, flicking a quick look at Cade, who’s switched to wiping down and facing the liquor bottles that line the shelf behindthe bar. He might look like he isn’t paying attention but I know him. He’s waiting for the fireworks to start. Certain that whatever he's waiting for has everything to do with River’s new friend, I look right at her. The second our eyes lock, I feel like someone punched me in the gut. Did I say cute? I meantknock-you-flatgorgeous. “Who’s your friend?”

“I’m glad you asked.” Flashing me another quick smile, River gives her companion ahere we gokind of look before she refocuses on me. “Remember what we talked about last weekend?”

We talked about a lot of things but only one of them involved meeting one of River’s friends. Hoping to God this is the woman she wants to set me up with because I’m suddenly feeling every second of that dry spell Riv’s been harping me about, I nod my head while I hope to god she’s here to end it. “Yeah.” I aim another quick look at Cade. He’s not even pretending to work anymore. He’s blatantly watching the three of us from behind the bar, arms crossed over his chest and a barely there smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth. “I remember.”

“Great—” Lifting her hand, River gestures to the woman next to her. “This is my friend, Sloane.” Dropping her hand, she looks at me. “Sloane, this is my boss, Jensen.”

Three things happen simultaneously.

The brunette I’m praying is my mystery date, lifts her hand from her lap, offering it to me with anit’s nice to meet youwhile River says,Sloane just rented the loft—she’s your new tenant?—

And then I see it.

The diamond encrusted clasp on her simple, silverchain-link bracelet, circling the wrist that’s attached to the hand the woman is offering me. It’s not silver—it’s platinum and it’s from Tiffany. Simple or not, it’s worth more than some people around here make in a year.

She’s a creeker.

And once I realize it, nothing else matters.

“The fuck she is.” Instead of taking her offered hand, I take a step back while my face folds into itself on a scowl. “Get rid of her.” Looking away from the woman who’s staring at me like I just spit on her, I turn my glare on River. “Now.” Without waiting to see if she does what I ask, I give the woman staring at me a finalfuck youlook before I turn away from both of them to make my way upstairs.

“Don’t leave,” I hear River tell her before scrambling off her stool to come after me. I’m up the stairs and halfway down the hall before she catches up to me. The door across from mine is standing wide open. I can see what I’m assuming is the woman’s suitcase sitting on the floor, next to the couch. Guess she travels light.

Convenient.

Changing direction, I head across the hall, intent on retrieving the suitcase and tossing it down the stairs. Before I can, River beats me there, rushing forward to throw herself between me and the open door. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she hisses at me in an effort to keep her voice down. “You said I could rent the loft out, so that’s what I did.”

“Move,” I tell her even though I know she won’t. River can be a pain in the ass when she wants to be.

---